Usually, in a system for winding at least one barrel, or for setting the time or correcting the date, there is used a wheel with wolf teeth cooperating with two clicks. The two clicks are held by small springs against the wheel to prevent rotation in one direction and to allow free rotation in another direction. Another click must also be provided under the wheel of the frame to prevent the mainspring from being wound. This locking click under the wheel is difficult to access which makes disassembly difficult, especially of the barrel or parts connected to the barrel. This generally constitutes a drawback of such a winding system.
In EP Patent Application No. 0 278 338 A1, there is described a reverser mechanism for an automatic winding device using an oscillating weight of a watch movement. The mechanism includes a winding wheel, which is coaxially mounted with two wheels having wolf teeth, which are disposed on either side of the winding wheel. This winding wheel carries on each face thereof at least one click loaded by a spring and respectively cooperating with one of the wolf teeth wheels. This assembly is disposed in the kinematic chain of the movement, inserted between the oscillating weight and the mainspring barrel of the watch. These clicks are intended for the transmission of the rotation of the oscillating weight, and are arranged respectively hinged on pivoting members, which are integral with the winding wheel. Each pivoting member, which carries the click assigned to one direction of rotation of the oscillating weight, also serves as an anchoring member for the spring, which loads the click intended for the transmission of the other direction of rotation of said oscillating weight. However, this mechanism with the winding device includes too many parts, which makes maintenance of the watch difficult and constitutes a drawback.
EP Patent Application No. 2 221 676 A1 discloses a timepiece which includes a chronograph and a watch. The chronograph hands are driven by a first gear train, which in turn drives a first resonator. The watch hands are driven by a second gear train independent of the first gear train, which in turn drives a second resonator. The first and second gear trains are driven by a single energy source. The energy source is a barrel which rotates freely about an arbor and contains a mainspring. This mainspring may be wound by driving a wheel with wolf teeth mounted on the barrel arbor and impeded in one direction of rotation by clicks. However no unidirectional drive arrangement is defined in connection with the barrel.
CH Patent Application No. 173 803 A describes a device for winding a watch, which is a unidirectional drive arrangement. The device includes a solar drive pinion, which is mounted for free rotation about a central arbor coaxially secured to a winding wheel. It also includes a toothed planetary wheel for meshing with a toothing of the solar pinion. The toothed planetary wheel is mounted for free rotation about an offset arbor fixed to the wheel and parallel to the central arbor. It also includes a hook fixedly mounted to the winding wheel in order to mesh with the toothed planetary wheel in one direction of rotation. The device further includes a relatively complicated mechanical arrangement for allowing unidirectional driving, which is a drawback.
Reference may also be made to CH Patent Application Nos 308 939 A and 308 940 A, which describe a winding device, in a similar manner to CH Patent Application No. 173 803 A, and which also include a relatively complicated mechanical arrangement for allowing unidirectional driving, which is a drawback.